Call 12: Walmart defends its ban of shopper

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By Robert Anglen The Republic | azcentral.comSat Dec 14, 2013 8:14 PM

Hours after a San Tan Valley man claimed Walmart banned him for his liberal use of price-matching, his story went viral and sparked international attention, Internet debate and backlash for the global retail giant.

Joe Cantrell said he was targeted for taking advantage of Walmart’s guarantee to match competitors’ advertised prices. Store officials concocted claims that he threatened an employee, he said.

But what happened to the 34-year-old disabled former pro wrestler at Walmart depends on who is telling the story.

Walmart officials last week said Cantrell was issued a trespass notice and prohibited from ever again entering any store-owned property because he cursed and threatened a cashier with physical harm.

Company officials acknowledged a cashier questioned Cantrell’s attempt to price-match but said Cantrell escalated the situation with threats.

“The safety of our associates and customers is our top priority, and we find threats of violence unacceptable,” Walmart spokesperson Kayla Whaling said. “Out of abundance of caution, local law enforcement was contacted. Due to continuous threats of violence, the customer is no longer welcome at the store.”

Walmart is backed by Pinal County Sheriff Paul Babeu, who issued a statement last week critical of how Channel 15 (KNXV), the Phoenix news station that aired Cantrell’s story, presented its initial report.

Babeu said the station failed to obtain the police investigative report, which showed Cantrell first got into a dispute with a Walmart cashier Dec. 2.

Babeu said the dispute involved Cantrell’s attempt to use old ads to price match. Cantrell’s outburst was witnessed by store employees, store managers and customers, the sheriff said.

“A female customer who was standing in line was so alarmed by Cantrell’s behavior, she had to leave the store to calm her child, who was visibly frightened,” Babeu said, adding that Cantrell threatened to wait for the employee outside and return to the store to beat him.

Babeu said deputies were called but Cantrell had left the store.

When Cantrell returned to the Walmart on Dec. 5, employees called the sheriff’s office to have Cantrell removed.

Babeu also referenced Cantrell’s Facebook page in which he wrote: “Tonight I almost whipped a Walmart employee’s ass.”

Cantrell admits writing the post but said it hardly was a direct threat. He also said he took down the post once he realized how negative it sounded.

Cantrell said Babeu’s statement was inaccurate. He said the sheriff never spoke with him.

To hear Cantrell tell it, he was happily shopping for Christmas ornaments when deputies approached him, handcuffed and escorted him outside where he was cited and released.

Cantrell said “he cried like a baby” out of embarrassment and fear.

“I’ve never, never had any trouble with police,” he said in an interview last week.

Cantrell said he might look tough with tattoos, a wrestler’s physique and a lantern jaw. “I’m really just a big teddy bear,” he said. “I can’t help it that God gave me this face.”

Cantrell said he lives on disability and that his wife uses a wheelchair. They have two sons ages 3 and 4. Because of his fixed income and Walmart’s low prices, Cantrell said he often frequented the store, sometimes returning twice a day.

He said the store became a refuge of sorts and that store employees knew him by name. He said he would laugh and joke with employees and “always brought everybody’s spirit up.”

Cantrell contends that he never made any threats. He said the Walmart cashier is retaliating for a complaint Cantrell filed over his treatment of customers months ago.

Cantrell said video surveillance will show that he never threatened the cashier or acted aggressively. He said he is begging store officials to watch the video before making judgment.

“The truth is coming out more and more,” Cantrell said. “Those words they said I said are all false. Those words never came out of me.”

Cantrell has gotten support from a curious source: A man who identifies himself as a Walmart employee in a You Tube video defended Cantrell.

“This is Chris Lawrence from Walmart on Hunt Highway. And I just think it was real messed up how they did Joe Cantrell,” he stated, adding store managers discussed banning Cantrell over his use of “bad words.”

Lawrence said Cantrell never directly threatened anyone.

“He came in there and price-matched like everyone else,” he said. “I’m fixing to take a stand. The only thing I’m worried about is me losing my job because it is the only income I’ve got. But I’m taking a stand today, ’cause that was so wrong what they did to him.”

Walmart officials declined comment on the You Tube video.

A day after its initial story, Channel 15 ran a follow-up that included a statement from Walmart accusing Cantrell of making threats.

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